Just a Nice Stroll

As usual the Village Hidden in the Leaves was hustling and bustling with crowds of people that were in a rush to get to certain places for their everyday living needs before they closed their doors for the day. It was coming close to nighttime for the village, after all, and there were some store clerks that were still behind their counters commencing business with their customers while others were already lowering their shutters and locking up for the night. There was something serene about the atmosphere that this rush brought about and almost peaceful for some of the people that were still roaming the streets this night. One such person this had such an effect on was Higuto who was exiting beneath one of the flaps of Ichiraku's entranceway and making his way down the semi quiet streets of his home village.

Being a ninja usually always meant constant surveillance of one's surroundings to make certain that nothing would be able to catch one off guard. Higuto, however, couldn't help but lower his in order to enjoy the peace night brought upon everything around him. The bugs were silently chirping, fireflies flying around villagers, along with dogs and other animals silently falling asleep while no longer paying attention to any strangers that walked past them. It was a perfect time for a little stroll along the roads, in other words, as Higuto wondered if he should make his way to a bench to do a little light reading or maybe just walk along until an idea popped into his head.

Gale had spent a lot of time recently training his guts out. He laid sprawled across his bed, simply staring at the ceiling as every muscle fibre in his entire body protested his commands to move. He glanced down at his arm, tracing down to his fingertips, hoping to at least manage a twitch. Gale grit his teeth, eventually giving into the exhaustion that his body well and truly expressed, and so he laid there for grand total of five minutes before rolling out of bed, then waited another ten minutes before being able to crawl on his stomach and flailing himself downstairs making a very audible *thump*. His mother peered over from the kitchen to watch a head worm its way towards her, she simply laughed and crouched down running her fingers through his wavy hair “Training hard I see! Here eat this and you’ll feel much better.” She quickly popped back up to the kitchen counter, grabbing what seemed to be a mixed ball of oats, seeds, and herbs. Gale chewed on the strange concoction which was surprisingly tasty and felt his muscle aches slowly fade to a tolerable level. “Mm not bad, I might have to save a few for later.” Gale smirked at her mother and she simply returned the gesture and went back to cooking. “Take it easy today, you earned a rest.”

Gale eventually managed to push himself up off the ground, taking a day to rest didn’t sound like a bad idea to him at all at this point. Gale limped around the house as quickly as he could, getting himself together for a day out in the village before his dad would spot him and have words about how he’d have to cut logs and do other stupid chores all day. Hopping out of the house on one foot Gale made his way through the dense green of the Konoha forest, where his home was hidden and located in. It didn’t take too long to get to the village if he tried hard enough, but not being able to run it took him quite a while. Gale would then enjoy a day out on his own, exploring the forest and eventually heading into the village to go about his business, but as it got dark the day winded down, and eventually the village slowly began to empty. The sounds of crickets could be heard as fireflies flew aimlessly through the night sky. Gale walked through the streets, simply enjoying the fresh air and atmosphere of the night.

Gale kept walking until he noticed there was still one other person that he could see simply sitting on a bench in the middle of the street reading. He didn’t seem too much younger than himself and it was clear that he was a ninja. Gale being the curious individual that he was didn’t want to pass up on an opportunity to learn from and socialise with his fellow peers. Gale headed towards his direction, stopping just before the bench, the sudden halt of his feet causing some light dust from the dirt path to kick up into the cold nights air. “Hey, you’re a ninja, right? My name’s Gale, I’m a fresh genin. What cha reading?” Gale spoke in a nonchalant matter, which was typical for his easy going nature. After hearing a response Gale would then take a seat next to him and take any offered greeting gestures.

WC: 575

OOC Quick Note:

Higuto's attention was stirred when he heard the voice of someone calling to him from behind as he blinked and looked around to see a stranger standing a little ways away from him calling out to him. "Gale" and "fresh Genin", huh? Judging from how Higuto couldn't feel any chakra coming from this stranger at his distance made him believe his statements as Higuto smiled back and waved to him.

"Yo. Yeah, I'm a ninja and a Genin, too. The name's Higuto."

The night owls hooted in the forests in the distance as Higuto wondered what this boy might have wanted. Who knows? Maybe he wanted to be in the company of peers and hang out. Didn't sound too bad to Higuto if that was to be the case.

Ooc: Oops:

Gale appreciated the friendly answer, since sometimes people in the village weren't always so welcome, especially to someone who lived outside of it. "Well nice to meet you Higuto. You seem much stronger than most of the people I know that are Genin, including myself. I would have thought you were a Chunin. What are you doing out at night so late?" He wasn't exactly sure why there would still be anyone wandering around at night, maybe he enjoyed the atmosphere as much as himself?

Gale often did pay attention to all the different sounds of the natural fauna around Konoha, especially when he went walking out in the forest, if he wanted to in silence he could sit and name all the different animals he could hear in the background, adding to the night's ambience.

WC: 136

Higuto blinked at the words that left Gale's mouth. "You seem much stronger than most of the people I know that are Genin, including myself. I would have thought you were a Chunin." Well this ninja certainly seemed to have quite a keen eye about him. As far as Higuto knew there were few Genin in the Leaf with his chakra level or higher. It made him wonder if this guy had sensory abilities like him. He offered a smile, scratching his head while doing so in embarrassment, as he spoke after Gale brought up the question of what he was doing out at night.

"Thanks! Though I might not be Chunin yet I hope to change that in the upcoming exams. Right now I'm just taking a stroll. I got all my duties taken care of so I wanted a moment to myself."

He looked around the streets at the people that were passing them by before giving a slight sigh.

"I rarely get such free time though I'm not quite certain what would be a great thing to do to pass it."

He would offer a shrug as he had originally wanted to read a book or maybe even see his teacher just to talk.